Ralph the Timid

In 1055 Ælfgar, the earl of East Anglia, was exiled and allied himself with the ruler of Wales, Gruffydd ap Llywelyn.

Ralph met them in battle on 24 October, but suffered a disastrous defeat, and the invaders sacked Hereford.

Ann Williams suggested that Ralph probably lost his earldom of Hereford to Harold after his defeat in 1055,[1] but in the view of Frank Barlow he held it until his death.

[2]The Norman poet Gaimar wrote that in 1057, Earl Ralph took the Earldom of East Anglia,[3] after the death of Leofric in August 1057.

"[5] The Earldom of East Anglia then went to Ælfgar, Earl of Mercia[6] Ralph's son Harold was one of the royal children brought up by King Edward's wife, Edith.